Drugs, weapons and $58,000 seized in raid on Lisbon home

Authorities came away with drugs, weapons and $58,000 in cash after police and the county drug task force raided a West Washington Street home on Tuesday afternoon.

Armed with an arrest warrant and a search warrant, police and DTF agents went to 533 W. Washington St., where 38-year-old William Martin II was taken into custody on existing charges of drug possession (two counts) and failure to appear in court on a driving under suspension charge.

A search of the house turned up suspected heroin (0.4 pounds), cocaine (0.6 pounds), crack cocaine (0.1 pounds) and marijuana, (3.7 pounds), along with $58,000 in cash. Authorities also found seven weapons, according to a news release issued by the DTF. Martin was charged at the scene for having weapons despite a prior felony conviction.

“It was probably one of the largest drug busts we’ve seen in Lisbon yet,” said police Chief Mike Abraham.

DTF Director Lt. Brian McLaughlin agreed, saying, “This was not your typical drug bust” in terms of what was found.

Lisbon has two police officers assigned to the DTF, and Abraham believes that investment is achieving results.

“The DTF and my narcotics detectives are on top of it in Lisbon. When they move in, we move in on them,” he said of drug dealers. “We’re on top of it and try to do what we can to clean it up.”

In this instance, witnesses reported seeing a number of people going in and out of the house frequently, even though only Martin and his girlfriend live there. Abraham said Martin, his girlfriend and another female were home at the time, but there were no problems.

McLaughlin said Martin was the subject of a drug raid in 2016 when he was living in East Liverpool, and other charges are expected to be filed as a result of Tuesday’s raid.